The Demise of the Nation State

Trump may seem like America’s problem and Brexit England’s mistake, but we all live in the same global economic and political system now, one where our national borders won’t protect us. National authority is increasingly an illusion. We need a new transnational system to deal with our large scale ecological, social and financial problems.

Source: The Guardian
Published: Apr 5, 2018
Length: 22 minutes (5,621 words)

The First Social Media Suicide

Alienated and traumatized in a vacuous Paris suburb, 18-year-old Océane saw the world as devoid of intimacy and compassion, a world further cooled by social media, yet she broadcast her own death. Why? What was she trying to teach us about the suffering of others?

Source: The Guardian
Published: Aug 29, 2017
Length: 20 minutes (5,229 words)

Capital Gains

There is nothing superficial about brands in contemporary Delhi. This is a place where one’s social significance is assumed to be nil unless there are tangible signs to the contrary, so the need for such signs is authentic and fierce. And in these times of stupefying upheaval, when all old meanings are under assault, it is corporate brands that seem to carry the most authority. Brands hold within them the impressive infinity of the new global market. They hold out the promise of dignity and distinction in a harsh city that constantly tries to withhold these things.

Source: Granta
Published: Jul 28, 2009
Length: 43 minutes (10,961 words)